Gear I Used in this Post

But when you hear the term best, optimal or perfect amp settings, you should always take the information as a generalization and with a grain of salt.

You’re being given suggestions, and not a formula.

Because tone isn’t mathematical.

That said, your tone can improve if you understand your amp and have a direction to go in when you’re configuring it. It’s even possible that you’re missing out on a better tone because you haven’t taken the time to tweak your settings.

We’ll show you how to do that here, starting with the most basic element of your sound; volume.

Addressing Volume

What’s often overlooked by those who set out to optimize their amp settings is volume.

There are three different volume sources that you’re likely working with:

From your Guitar

Channel Volume

Master Volume

For reasons that I cannot explain, the volume knob on your guitar will actually alter the tonal quality of your signal if it is turned down. That can be helpful if and when you do want to change your tone, but for testing purposes it’s best to keep the volume on your guitar all the way up so that you’re getting a complete signal to your amp.

If you have a channel volume on your amplifier, that can have a similar effect.

However, it’s good practice to leave this somewhere between five and seven and use your master volume to control the overall output of your amp.

Master volume is really the only one that should routinely change.

So in steps:

Set the volume on your guitar to ten.

Set your amp’s channel volume to seven (you may want to have different channels at different volumes).

Adjust your master volume to an appropriate output.

Once you’ve done this, the master volume is the only one that will need to be adjusted when you’re playing in different places.

Creating a Starting Point

We need to establish a starting point where we have a clean slate to work with. That means all effects should be off and your guitar should be set as generically as possible.

Here’s your checklist.

Set all tone knobs on your guitar to ten.

Turn off all effects.

Set all amp knobs to five (except for volume knobs).

Once you’re done with these steps, the settings on your amp should look like this:

Cutting back treble when you’re looking for a higher-pitched signal isn’t advisable, but if it does sound too piercing, just dial it back to six or seven if need be. Once again this will depend on the rest of your rig and your type of amplifier.

Conventionally, Marshall amps will have that brighter more “shimmering” tone.

Tweaking

One thing to keep in mind is that getting the optimal clean sound from your amp is largely (though not entirely) subjective.

I’ve given you the conventions and a place to start. So if you don’t like what you’re hearing, it should be instinctual for you to dive in and do some tweaking to try and get it “right.” For you, getting it right might be different than what it is for me.

Personally, I like a warm and low-end tone, which leads me to almost always use the middle position on my pickup switch and to keep the bass on my amp a little higher.

If that’s not your thing, you’ll adjust and find something you like.

So don’t get hung up with finding the perfect tone.

There are great tones that you can emulate, and best practices that you should try to follow. But the tone doesn’t exist and shouldn’t discourage you from tweaking and trying different things with your rig.

Considering Effects

A clean tone should be configured and established without any effects enabled, but once you have those settings, write them down and then start testing them with different sounds from your pedalboard.

These effects don’t heavily alter or distort your signal, making them good first choices to test out your standardized settings. You might find that the sound you get with the effects call for you to go back and do some more tweaking.

Conclude

Great tone is a balance between finding something that you like and something that everyone who listens to you will also find appealing. It’s a mix between your own creative instincts and the conventional wisdom of the masses who both play and follow the kind of music that you’re a part of.

Optimizing that means you’ll strike a balance where your tone sounds good in a general sense, but is still you.

If you get your three-band EQ figured out, that will make the rest of the process a lot easier.

The way you utilize effects, your playing style and the unique compilation of your rig will account for that extra something that makes your sound “you.”

Different Opinion?

What is your story like when it comes to tracking down the ultimate amp settings? Give us some numbers for your three-band EQ over at Twitter and Google Plus.

Could you use more gear help?

Producing “great tone” is a worthy pursuit, but not always an obvious one.

We all own a unique collection of gear that seems to sound different all the time. That’s normal, but still something we need to learn to deal with.

We need to learn our gear.

If you want to access some resources that will help dealing with a specific tonal pursuit, piece of gear or other questions related to your rig, I’d recommend giving Guitar Tricks 14-day free trial a test run – there’s no obligations and you’ve got nothing to lose – except two free weeks of one of the most comprehensive and thorough guitar education websites in existence.